Fiscal Rangers

Lake County Historical Society Erupts in Spat and Accusations

Tavares, FL - Saturday, Feb. 22, 2013 (After publishing this, we received some comments from Jimmy Conner which were added at the end of this article - vj). Today’s Daily Commercial broke a story about a bubbling spat between Board members of the Lake County Historical Society, but had only part of the story. I have been informed of this story since last weekend, but was waiting for some resolution since not all facts could be confirmed. Read their story first. http://www.dailycommercial.com/News/LakeCounty/23Feb2013society There are two opposing groups on the 18 (?) member Board. One supports the Office Manager and may have launched the accusations against the President and Vice President to offset the planned investigation by the other group wanting a review of the Office Manager spending and timekeeping practices. Thursday, key members of the Board met with Court Clerk Neil Kelly because the Society is funded by County funds (about $20,000 (?)) and Kelly acts as Treasurer. The Society is funded with County funds, thus indicating a need for officials to get involved. However I called County Board member Jimmy Conner who is the County Board liaison to the Society, and he said this is an “internal dispute” and... Read more →

Volusia County Schools Could Save $17-million by Outsourcing Custodial Services

Tavares, FL - Feb. 11, 2013 by Vance Jochim The School District in Volusia County FL lost a referendum last year to raise annual property taxes by $26-million, so they are hunting for every idea to reduce costs since revenues are down. One method is outsourcing, and they are seriously considering outsourcing of custodial services to reduce costs and save an estimated $17-million. The article below brings up a number of outsourcing examples. One major reason is the high health and pension costs for workers who could be outsourced. Meanwhile, here in Lake County FL, there is much talk of running out of money, but no discussion yet on obtaining outsourcing proposals for services like custodions, food service, etc. Many of the employees subject to similar outsourcing proposals are members of the SEIU Union. So, you might wonder why School Board member Rosanne Brandeburg took about $12,000 in contributions from SEIU and Teacher's unions for her recent re-election campaign. http://www.news-journalonline.com/article/20130211/OPINION/302089949/1028?Title=Schools-wise-to-consider-outsourcing-some-services Note: I have been laid off three times in corporate downsizings, buyouts and mergers, so Government employees need to be competitive with the private world. Read more →

Officials Attend 4 hour Lake County FL Eco-Tourism Summit on North Lake Apopka

Mount Dora, FL (Lake County) - Feb. 8th, 2013 Yesterday, the Lake County Board of Commissioners Chair Leslie Campione hosted a 4 hour "Regional Summit on Land Issues Impacting the North Shore of Lake Apopka". The main reason was to disclose plans for developing the North Shore of Lake Apopka (partially in Lake county plus Orange County) into an "eco-tourism" attraction, AND to discuss issues affecting those plans caused by a planned expansion of a nearby "Orlando North Airport", located on Long & Scott property. The Lake County and Orange County governments have been discussing these issues for months due to the proposed airport expansion which would cross County borders and affect local bird populations due to "bird strike" situations. Below is the two part agenda. View this photo - Agenda cover View this photo - Agenda with speaker names and topics Here is the press release: http://www.lakecountyfl.gov/media/news_releases/news_release.aspx?id=2047 You can see our three part VIDEO of the event at our Youtube "FiscalRangersFlorida" . The first video is here: http://youtu.be/9snmO6VVFv0 (Note: Part 2 & 3 are in process of downloading - probably not active until tomorrow - Sunday). See Orlando Sentinel article by Steve Hudak here: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/os-lake-apopka-north-shore-summit-20130208,0,5073878.story See the Daily Commercial... Read more →